Pubdate: Wed, 24 Nov 2010
Source: East Bay Express (CA)
Copyright: 2010 East Bay Express
Contact: http://posting.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/SubmitLetter/Page
Website: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1131
Author: Malcolm Kyle

WHAT THE RESEARCH SHOWS

Re: "Charting the Rise of Medical Cannabis," Legalization Nation, 11/17

Here are just some of the many studies the Feds wish they'd never commissioned:

1) MARIJUANA USE HAS NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY: A massive study of 
California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse 
(NIDA) found marijuana use caused no significant increase in 
mortality. Tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death. 
Sidney, S et al. Marijuana Use and Mortality. American Journal of 
Public Health. Vol. 87 No. 4, April 1997. p. 585-590. Sept. 2002.

2) HEAVY MARIJUANA USE AS A YOUNG ADULT WON'T RUIN YOUR LIFE: 
Veterans Affairs scientists looked at whether heavy marijuana use as 
a young adult caused long-term problems later, studying identical 
twins in which one twin had been a heavy marijuana user for a year or 
longer but had stopped at least one month before the study, while the 
second twin had used marijuana no more than five times ever. 
Marijuana use had no significant impact on physical or mental health 
care utilization, health-related quality of life, or current 
socio-demographic characteristics. Eisen SE et al. Does Marijuana Use 
Have Residual Adverse Effects on Self-Reported Health Measures, 
Socio-Demographics or Quality of Life? A Monozygotic Co-Twin Control 
Study in Men. Addiction. Vol. 97 No. 9. p.1083-1086. Sept. 1997

3) THE "GATEWAY EFFECT" MAY BE A MIRAGE: Marijuana is often called a 
"gateway drug" by supporters of prohibition, who point to statistical 
"associations" indicating that persons who use marijuana are more 
likely to eventually try hard drugs than those who never use 
marijuana - implying that marijuana use somehow causes hard drug use. 
But a model developed by RAND Corp. researcher Andrew Morral 
demonstrates that these associations can be explained "without 
requiring a gateway effect." More likely, this federally funded study 
suggests, some people simply have an underlying propensity to try 
drugs, and start with what's most readily available. Morral AR, 
McCaffrey D and Paddock S. Reassessing the Marijuana Gateway Effect. 
Addiction. December 2002. p. 1493-1504.

4) PROHIBITION DOESN'T WORK: The White House had the National 
Research Council examine the data being gathered about drug use and 
the effects of US drug policies. NRC concluded, "the nation possesses 
little information about the effectiveness of current drug policy, 
especially of drug law enforcement." And what data exist show "little 
apparent relationship between severity of sanctions prescribed for 
drug use and prevalence or frequency of use." In other words, there 
is no proof that prohibition - the cornerstone of US drug policy for 
a century - reduces drug use. National Research Council. Informing 
America's Policy on Illegal Drugs: What We Don't Know Keeps Hurting 
Us. National Academy Press, 2001. p. 193.

5) PROHIBITION MAY CAUSE THE "GATEWAY EFFECT"?): US and Dutch 
researchers, supported in part by NIDA, compared marijuana users in 
San Francisco, where non-medical use remains illegal, to Amsterdam, 
where adults may possess and purchase small amounts of marijuana from 
regulated businesses. Looking at such parameters as frequency and 
quantity of use and age at onset of use, they found the following: 
Cannabis (Marijuana) use in San Francisco was 3 times the prevalence 
found in the Amsterdam sample. And lifetime use of hard drugs was 
significantly lower in Amsterdam, with its "tolerant" marijuana 
policies. For example, lifetime crack cocaine use was 4.5 times 
higher in San Francisco than Amsterdam. Reinarman, C, Cohen, PDA, and 
Kaal, HL. The Limited Relevance of Drug Policy: Cannabis in Amsterdam 
and San Francisco. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 94, No. 5. 
May 2004. p 836-842.

6) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART 1): Federal researchers 
implanted several types of cancer, including leukemia and lung 
cancers, in mice, then treated them with cannabinoids (unique, active 
components found in marijuana). THC and other cannabinoids shrank 
tumors and increased the mice's lifespans. Munson, AE et al. 
Antineoplastic Activity of Cannabinoids. Journal of the National 
Cancer Institute. Sept. 1975. p. 597-602.

7) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER, (PART 2): In a 1994 study the 
government tried to suppress, federal researchers gave mice and rats 
massive doses of THC, looking for cancers or other signs of toxicity. 
The rodents given THC lived longer and had fewer cancers, "in a 
dose-dependent manner" (i.e. the more THC they got, the fewer 
tumors). NTP Technical Report On The Toxicology And Carcinogenesis 
Studies Of 1-Trans- Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, CAS No. 1972-08-3, 
In F344/N Rats And B6C3F Mice, Gavage Studies. See also, "Medical 
Marijuana: Unpublished Federal Study Found THC-Treated Rats Lived 
Longer, Had Less Cancer," AIDS Treatment News no. 263, Jan. 17, 1997.

8) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART 3): Researchers at the 
Kaiser-Permanente HMO, funded by NIDA, followed 65,000 patients for 
nearly a decade, comparing cancer rates among non-smokers, tobacco 
smokers, and marijuana smokers. Tobacco smokers had massively higher 
rates of lung cancer and other cancers. Marijuana smokers who didn't 
also use tobacco had no increase in risk of tobacco-related cancers 
or of cancer risk overall. In fact their rates of lung and most other 
cancers were slightly lower than non-smokers, though the difference 
did not reach statistical significance. Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana 
Use and Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes 
and Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.

9) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART 4): Donald Tashkin, a 
UCLA researcher whose work is funded by NIDA, did a case-control 
study comparing 1,200 patients with lung, head, and neck cancers to a 
matched group with no cancer. Even the heaviest marijuana smokers had 
no increased risk of cancer, and had somewhat lower cancer risk than 
non-smokers (tobacco smokers had a 20-fold increased Lung Cancer 
risk). Tashkin D. Marijuana Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a 
Case-Control Study. American Thoracic Society International 
Conference. May 23, 2006.

10) MARIJUANA DOES HAVE GREAT MEDICAL VALUE: In response to the 
passage of California's medical marijuana law, the White House had 
the Institute of Medicine (IOM) review the data on marijuana's 
medical benefits and risks. The IOM concluded, "Nausea, appetite 
loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can be 
mitigated by marijuana." The report also added, "we acknowledge that 
there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic 
conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain 
or AIDS wasting." The government's refusal to acknowledge this 
finding caused co-author John A. Benson to tell The New York Times 
that the government "loves to ignore our report ... they would rather 
it never happened." Joy, JE, Watson, SJ, and Benson, JA. Marijuana 
and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. National Academy Press. 
1999. p. 159. See also, Harris, G. FDA Dismisses Medical Benefit From 
Marijuana. The New York Times. Apr. 21, 2006

Malcolm Kyle, New York
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom